Until recently, almost all voice and fax communication between remote locations was carried over the public switched telephone network (PSTN). The PSTN provides a circuit switch signal path between two or more parties wishing to communicate with one another, that is, the signal path which is to be used exclusively by the parties is established and maintained throughout the communication. A party wishing to communicate with another having a compatible device, whether by voice, fax, or data, dials the appropriate telephone number and the PSTN will connect the two parties, or two fax machines, or two data terminals, by creating a dedicated, continuous, signal path between the parties. Thus, the parties have a continuous two-way communication link established between them for the duration of their usage.
In the last decade, large scale high speed computer networks have been developed which utilize packet switching technologies. A packet switched network is entirely different than the circuit switched PSTN. A packet switched network is one in which discrete packets of data are routed, as required, between users. Thus, a packet switched network is one which connects two parties wishing to communicate only when there is data to transmit between those two parties.
An example of a packet switched network is the Internet-World Wide Web. The Internet-World Wide Web packet switched network may be accessed by a user through an “internet provider” via a local phone connection, across the circuit switched PSTN. Alternatively, users at schools or corporations can access the internet directly via network cards in a PC or workstation. Once connected to the Internet-World Wide Web, a user may send data to any other user having access to this network. This connectivity appears to be a local telephone call to the local phone company, even though the other party may be located across town, across the state, across the country, or across the world.
Although the packet switched networks were originally developed to transmit data and text in a digital format, technology has progressed to allow packets of data containing digitized voice or audio signals to be passed through the network to establish voice or audio communication between different users. Although the audio quality is not as high as with the PSTN, this method of audio communication may, nonetheless, be extremely advantageous in terms of the cost per call, since each call will appear to each user to be a local telephone call, regardless of where the other party is located. Additionally, improvements in technology are constantly increasing audio quality.
Several companies have developed their own proprietary systems which allow users to transmit audio information over the Internet-World Wide Web. The disadvantage of the current state of the art of these packet switched voice or audio systems is that in general, one system is not compatible with another. Thus, two parties wishing to exchange audio data across a packet switched computer network, such as the Internet-World Wide Web, must be using the same packet switched voice communication package, or else no communication between the two parties will be possible. Also, some of the new audio compression algorithms can only be processed by fast (pentium) processors. If connecting to a slower PC, a less effective compression algorithm must be used, resulting in an inability to exchange compressed audio data between systems having different processor speeds. A translation system can be located at a corporate site, thus allowing conversions to easier compression rates at a company's local network. Another disadvantage of the current state of the art of these systems is that in general, they are not compatible with the PSTN. Thus, it is not currently possible for a party utilizing one of these systems providing audio communication over a packet switched data network to communicate with a telephone connected to the PSTN.
Accordingly, what is needed is a system and method for providing an ability to translate from one packet switched voice communication system to another different packet switched voice communication system in order to allow users previously unable to exchange audio data to now communicate over a computer network. In addition, what is needed is a system and method for providing an interface between a packet switched voice system, such as the Internet-World Wide Web, and the PSTN. This would enable users on the Internet-World Wide Web to communicate with a standard telephone user connected to the PSTN.